Onward To Morroc
by Lately
Summary: When you cross a short tempered thief who's already crazy, a novice with special abilities and a problem, and an assassin with one use shurikans, you get a strange adventure that all somehow leads to Morroc. Discontinued for awhile! Sorry!
1. From Dog to Wolf, not good

"Ah…..another bright day of beating stuff up in the culvert!" Aromia cheered happily one day as she went to the west entrance of Prontera, her favorite hangout.

Once Aromia had gotten her upgrades, she decided to leave Prontera for a while and battle new monsters on the way to Moroc. But as she was leaving the south entrance, something happened.

"Oh, great. Dead Branches," Aromia said to herself as she saw a few dead merchants on the ground disappear to their last save points, "Nothing I can't handle," Aromia said to herself. Cocky as she was, Aromia was a speed thief and could outrun almost any monster that tried to attack.

As Aromia ran around the battle, she heard a sudden shriek with a few pleas saying, "Nice doggy, good doggy, stay doggy." And then a few more shrieks. "I guess I should see what that was," Aromia said to herself as she ran toward the noise.

What Aromia saw was a bit comical and almost made her laugh out loud. A desert wolf pup was barking at a novice in a tree trying to throw sticks at it. Aromia walked up and stabbed itwith her dagger makingthe wolf pup disappear leaving only some animal skin behind.

"Hey, are you ok up there?" Aromia asked the frightened novice in the tree. "Yeah, thanks for saving me," The novice said as she jumped down onto the ground, "I was heading towards Morroc to finish my quest so I could become an acolyte when that creature attacked me. By the way, my name's Crickette, but you can call me Crick."

"My name's Aromia. Nice to meet-" But before Aromia could finish the greeting, she heard a loud growl in a nearby bush. A large wolf jumped out and howled sending a chill down Aromia and Crickette's back.

"OH MY GOSH!" Crickette shrieked at the top of her lungs, "IT'S A VAGABOND WOLF!" Crickette started going into a panic frenzy, "What do we do? What do we do? What do we do?"

"JUST SHUT UP FOR A MINUTE, WILL 'YA?" Aromia shouted. This wolf could take them both down with one stone from how she saw it, and if they ran, they would also be taken down. There was no other option, Aromia had to-


	2. Hug 'O Doom

I don't own Ragnarok Online, it IS, however, an awsome game. Enjoy the story, reviews and flames alike are welcome!It's my first fanfic! Not my best work, though... --

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"Crickette, I want you to run when I give a signal," Aromia said.

"B-but, where will we go?" Crickette stuttered.

"Not us, but you," Aromia replied standing with her back turned to Crickette and her dagger out of its sheath.

"But what are you going to do? You can't beat that wolf," Crickette pleaded, "You'll get killed."

"Yeah, but it will buy you some time to get out of here," Aromia said. The wolf was waiting patiently to see which human he got to have the honor of killing.

"But-"

"NOW!" Aromia shouted as she lunged toward the Vagabond Wolf. All Crickette could do was run away from the gruesome fight.

The battle WAS gruesome and all, but I'll just get down to the point of suspense. Aromia hadn't been doing too well and was only needed to be hit one more time before she'd be dead. And as the Vagabond Wolf approached, there was a bright light and Crickette had appeared out of nowhere and had teleported both her and Aromia back to Prontera.

Once Aromia was healed by priestesses in the city, she asked, "Hey Crick, you're only a novice, how could you use teleport?"

"Heh, I'm not sure but I do come from a line of priestesses and monks, so it's possible I guess. That's also why I'm on a quest from the priest in the cathedral. I have to go to Morroc so I can be an acolyte." Crickette replied cheerfully.

Aromia suddenly got an idea, "Hey I know! You said you needed to go to Morroc, right? How about I come with you so you don't get killed? I do owe you for saving my life and all."

Crickette looked like she was going to explode from happiness as she hugged Aromia, "Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank-"

"C…..chok….ing"

"Oh, right. Sorry"


	3. Wasted Zeny

Don't own Ragnarok Online but I DO own Aromia and Crickette. Thanks to those who sent a review! Then again, I haven't gotten any...wahhhh! Make's me wanna cry! I've realized that the chapters are pretty short so I'll try harder.

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Aromia decided that they should get Crickette a weapon before they left, so they were both headed for the weapon shop while Crickette had just enough zeny for a mace. Suddenly a novice politely stopped Crickette for directions to the nearest shop. After she gave him directions, she handed her bag of zeny to him.

"Here, take it. You need this more than I do," she said as gave him the bag.

"Oh thank you so much," the novice said before leaving.

"Crickette!" Aromia shouted at her, "Now you don't have enough to get a mace! Why'd you do it?"

Crickette smiled at her and simply said, "Because it's my job."

If it hadn't been for Aromia's thick head, the moment might have actually been cute. For all we knew, the stranger could have been rich but had no sense of direction.

"Oh for the love of...HERE!" Aromia shouted as she thrust some coins into Crickette's hand, "AND THIS TIME ACTUALLY GET A MACE!"

"Yes 'mam!" Crickette squeaked as she sped off through the crowded streets towards the weapon shop.

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It's very short, I know. But I will update soon!


	4. Jelly Demons and Shurikans

I'm not entirely sure if there IS a character named Santo Devolo, so therefore I don't own him...I think...yeah, pretty sure I don't...I don't own Ragnarok Online but I DO own Aromia and Crickette. THEY ARE MINE! Possessive I am being? Nah, couldn't be. This is my first fanfic let alone being my first RO fanfic. Please review and thanks!

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After three hours of traveling, our heroes are having un-technical difficulties.

"GAH! Stupid map! I can't read it!" Aromia complained.

"Uhhhh….. maybe you're reading it upside down," Crickette said cautiously not to get her partner mad.

"Pshaw! NO! I can't read it because it's in ITALIAN!" Aromia shouted to no one in particular. Soon Aromia started to swear with all her might at the piece of paper in her hand before turning to Crickette with a kind smile saying, "Whatever you do, Crick, never buy a map from the Smiley Mask Girl, ok?"

"Heh, ok I won't," Crickette replied with a smile of relief from the conclusion of her partner's tantrum, "But I wonder where we are…" she pondered.

As the duo stood and stared at the ground in deep thought, a poring bounced by. Then a drops, then a poporing. Soon the ground couldn't be seen because of the vast living jelly creatures hopping around merrily doing absolutely nothing BUT bouncing around. Our heroes didn't quite notice this until they were knee deep in green, orange, and pink jelly creatures.

(A/N: Are they REALLY _heroes?_ Oh, well. They are as long as I'M the author.)

"Um…..Aromia…..what are we knee deep in?" Crickette asked.

"IT'S JELLY! YUMMY!" Aromia cried merrily as she picked up a poring. But just as she was going to take a bite, she saw that the glob of jelly had two tiny black eyes and a thin lined mouth smiling at her.

"MERPH! ...Merph? IT'S ALIVE!" Aromia shouted as she threw the poring ten feet away from her. The poring's landing was soft and squishy because it landed on it's brethren poring, drops, and poporing, but never the less, it started crying from being rejected.

"HA! TAKE THAT YOU UNEDIBLE JELLY DEMON!" Aromia laughed at the top of her lungs before something larger than her approached from behind.

"LOOK OUT! A GIANT UNEDIBLE JELLY DEMON OF DEATH IS BEHIND YOU!" Crickette shouted. Aromia was just in time to turn around and see a Master Ring coming straight at her along with a large swarm of poring, drops, and poporings trailing behind it.

"This looks like it's time for my handy-dandy………DAGGER!" Aromia proclaimed, but by the time she had looked at her waist belt to pull out her dagger and look up at the Master Ring again, it was already dead.

Aromia simply said, agitated, "Well that just takes the fun out of everything, doesn't it?"

Something had caught Crickette's eye though, "Look up there, Aromia!"

Up on a looming hill was a boy wearing strange clothing and a large sakkat. The boy had long white hair whoressembled one whowas in the assassin's class. In one of his hands he was holding a small shurikan, the same type that the Master Ring seemed to have been vanquished with.

"WHO THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" Aromia shouted at the top of her voice.

"I am Santo Devolo!" the boy said, "And just so you know, I'm NOT at your service."

Aromia was quite confused, "Then why'd you kill that Master Ring for us?" meanwhile, Crickette was drowning in the sea of porings, drops, and poporings.

Santo Devolostood there, confused.But only for a split second, "I HAVE MY REASONS!"

"Suuure you do," Aromia muttered under her breathwhile saving Crickette from choking on the jelly creatures.

Once the boy had finally regained his composure, he started to speak once more, "No matter," he jumped into the air and threw the ninja star he was holding at Aromia, "Till we meet again……BWAHAHAHAHAHA" And with that, he disappeared.

When the shurikan was only a few feet from Aromia, it transformed into a rose before piercing the dirt.

Along with the rose landed a small tag that read, "Junko's Magic Store $0.25"

"Tch, loser," muttered Aromia, "crazy, crazy loser."

"Well, that was a bit awkward," Crickette said, "but the good news is that we don't have to fight the Master Ring anymore."

"Yeah," Aromia said absentmindedly, "C'mon, let's go."

As the duo left, they didn't notice the young assassin watching them from behind a nearby tree. A thought of realization had then just struck the boy, "Great," he said, "that was my last shurikan let alone my last magic shop shurikan……damn it all."

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Ta-Da! It's longer than the rest so far! BOO-YA! Please review, comments help a lot! YOU CAN CHANGE THE FUTURE WITH A SINGLE REVIEW! No, you can't. I was just kidding. I'd just like to know how to make it better. Thanks!


	5. Italian named Dude, or Dudette?

I have once again made another short chapter. I'M SORRY! I try but thinking for me does not bode well in the end. Don't own Ragnarok or Santo Devolo, just Aromia and Crickette. Please review, comments can help fix anything wrong about the story for the future!

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Once Aromia and Crickette were finally on the right track, they headed south towards Morroc. On the way they had beaten up a variety of things, mainly drops and pickys, but with Aromia's help, Crickette was able to defeat a Hode. It was noon whenthey hadbegun, but their victory was achieved once it was dusk. They decided to make camp for the night.

"YAY! I LIKE CHICKEN!" Aromia shouted with her mouth full. They were eating cooked pickys for dinner.

As the sky turned dark and the fire died down, Aromia couldn't help thinking about Santo Devolo. She wanted to know why he came and killed the Master Ring. That just doesn't happen every day she thought. Or does it?

Aromia stayed awake after Crickette went to bed. It was quite fun prodding the dieing fire with a stick. Yet after a few hours, Aromia grew tired and laid down looking at the stars above.

Her eyelids started closing as she heard a rhythmic tune echoing through the desert that was quickly putting her to sleep. "Clink…………………Clink…………………..Clink," was all she heard when she had finally closed her eyes for the night.

"Clink……………………….Clink………………………Clink," went the sounds of Santo Devolo's last one-use shurikans going against a nearby rock. His practicing soon came to a halt though as he said, "Grrrrrrr…..I ran out of ninja stars, AGAIN! Why are they only one-use? Oh well, I'll just have to get some more in the morning from some merchant," and with that last statement, he decided it was time to go to bed.

Once the sun had risen, Aromia and Crickette packed up camp and started to once again head towards Morroc. They had run out of potions the day before while trying to kill the Hode, so they were also looking for any merchant they could find. Fortunately, they found one; unfortunately, he was talking to a very frustrated young assassin wearing a large sakkat.

"That hat……….." Aromia and Crickettepondered in unison, "could it be...?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T SELL SHURIKANS?" Santo Devolo shouted at the cowering merchant. His eye soon caught a glimpse of Aromia staring at him like he was a nut case.

His attention was then diverted from the merchant who immediately took his chance and ran away with his cart full of merchandise. "AH-HA! SO YOU REMEMBER ME, EH?"

"OH GREAT, HE SPOTTED US! RUN!" shouted the novice.

"I gave you a question, damnit," Santo Devolostated obviously ticked.

"Uhhhhhhhh," was Crickette's reply.

Aromia had an even worse answer, "YOU'RE THAT ITALIAN-NAMED DUDE!" Everyone except Aromia fell over from that remark. Even the merchant who was already two miles away.

"MY NAME IS SANTO DEVOLO!" he cried hysterically.

"Ohhhhhhhhh," the two girls said in unison. They were still confused though, "You're a guy, right?" Crickette asked.

Too tired to argue anymore, Santo Devolo replied wearily, "Yes, I'm a guy……….…. ………….you're so hurtful………………"

"Ohhhhhhhhh," the two girls replied again. Now Aromia only had one question left and as Santo Devolo readied himself for the next ridiculous question, she asked…………….

"YOU WANNA HAVE LUNCH WITH US?" This time only Crickette fell over.

"Eh, sure. Why not?" Santo Devolo replied shrugging.

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I just can't bring myself to ever make angst or sad-dramatic stories. Perhaps that's why nothing evil happens to the characters and why they usually turn into parodies. I think that soon I will stop posting one setting per chapter so that theywill belonger. Thanks to all those who reviewed or will in the next moments.


	6. GINOURMONOUS!

Don't own RO or Santo Devolo. Thanks to the ONLY person who's reviewed, so I'll mention her at the end of this chapter! To everyone: reviews can change the world!

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After the trio had lunch, Aromia shouted, "Time to go!"

Of course, this caused Santo to ask, "Hey, where are you going?"

"Morroc," Crickette replied simply.

Santo Devolo then tried to put on his cutest and most convincing face as he asked, "Can I go too? Pleeeeeeaaaasssseeeee?"

(A/N: Those faces never work on me. They actually just bother me more.)

"SO CUTE!" Aromiacried before she hugged Santo Devolo, "OF COURSE YOU CAN COME SANTO DEVOLO!"

A soft squeak was heard as Santo Devolo's muffled reply, "You can just call me Santo…….Will you please stop choking me……….Please?"

(SETTING CHANGE! YAY!)

"DAMN MAP!" Aromia cried, "WHY DID THE SMILIE MASK GIRL SELL ME A MAP IN ITALIAN?"

"You know," Santo began, "I can read Italian."

Aromia and Crickette were overjoyed, "REALLY?"

"Hell yeah, my NAME is Italian for crying out loud," Santo explained.

So to put it bluntly, the trio didn't get lost as MUCH as before.

(ANOTHER SETTING CHANGE! YAY x 2!)

As our heroic trio continues their journey to Morroc, they come across…..

"What's that swirling hole in the ground?" Crickette asked, "IT'S GINOURMONOUS!"

The other two simply stared, "Ginourmonous, Crickette?" asked Aromia.

Santo meanwhile had managed to get over the strange event quicker than his other confused companion, "that's the entrance to Ant Hell,"he answered while looking at the map, "It's an underground tunnel that heads into the same direction as Morroc."

"In other words, DETOUR! FOLLOW ME, DANG-NAMMITY!" Aromia shouted as she did a cannonball right into the swirling dark hole.

"Dang-nammity, Aromia?" Crickette asked. She and Santo had no choice but to follow their friend into the swirling dark abyss.

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As promised, my #1 reviewer shall be mentioned: Tzusuki! Thank you Tzusuki, I know you'll see this! audience cheersTo everbodyelse: REVIEW PLEASE!


	7. I LUV ROCKS!

Don't own RO or Santo, yadda, yadda. I just looked at my story and realized that the stars don't show up. so I'll be using '-----' for setting changes because THEY show up. Sorry about that, folks. Most of this story had been written before it got published onto but now I've finally loaded all of the pre-made chapters. This means you can all look forward to better and longer chapters, but it may take longer because of schoolwork and junk. Anyway, enjoy the last (hopefully the last) **cruddy** chapter. Cheers!

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"Wow, I never knew I could hate bats this much," Aromia said as she swatted some bats away with her hand as the trio walked forward in Ant Hell.

"Are we there yet?" Crickette complained.

"No," Santo replied.

"Now?"

"No, tu idiota."

"……Now?"

"NO!"

"Now?"

"NO- I mean yes, we're here."

"Fi-nal-ly," Aromia said emphasizing each syllable; Ant Hell was a longer tunnel than they had thought.

**Unfortunately**,the exit was blocked by a very large rock.

(A/N: Why I added a rock, who knows. Maybe just to get some more words in this chapter.)

If it weren't for the fact that the trio had traveled all that way for nothing, Aromia would have laughed out loud until she fainted from lack of breath. Instead….

"YOU DIE TODAY, ROCK!" Aromia shouted from sheer spite as she started to pound on the enormous rock with the hilt of her dagger. She then fainted from exhaustion.

"Oh for the love of- Grim Tooth!" Santo shouted as he effortlessly broke the rock in two.

"Let's go," Santo said over his shoulder as he picked up Aromia and walked out of the tunnel with Crickette, staring in bewilderment.

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Dang...that WAS short. Oh well, like I said, hopefully there won't be anymore short chapters. REVIEW PLEASE!


	8. The End?

Wow. That took me a while, not because it took me a week to type, I was just really busy with school and didn't have a lot of time to work on it. It IS longer and somewhat better, though. Don't own IRO or Santo Devolo, although I'm starting to think therehas yet to bea character in Sakray let alone RO named Santo Devolo...so he might be mine, MINE I TELL YOU! MINE! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ok, I'm done. Too much sugar. Please enjoy this chapter! (Santo Devolo translates to'Holy Devil' in Italian.)

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"MUSHROOM TIMES BRUSSEL SPROUTS EQUALS NASTY!" Were the first words to come from Aromia's mouth as she instantly sat up once regaining consciousness. Once she had turned her head from left to right and saw no one, she quickly decided to lay back down and go back to sleep.

"You dare do that and I'll poke you to no end with my shurikans." Aromia this time turned 180 degrees to see Santo making this threat. She wouldn't have taken it seriously if not for the fact that he had a shurikan between each two fingers resembling spiked knuckles.

Behind Santo was Crickette, apparently asleep. To his left was a dieing fire that illuminated a 12 foot radius of the desert. It was the middle of the night and they were out of Ant Hell, but how?

"What in the name of King Triston II happened?" Aromia asked.

"The most likely answer to that would be that you had too much sugar," Santo started, "but there ISN'T an answer, is there?"

Aromia bobbed her head up and down, yet had no clue as to what Santo had said. When confused, you should just keep nodding.

She was still nodding when Santo had asked, "You're not listening, are you?"

"Dull as the sand…" Crickette mumbled in her sleep. A muffled 'clunk' could be heard as the novice's head began throbbing and the hilt of Aromia's dagger wouldn't stop vibrating from the blow.

-------- (new way for me to say "SETTING CHANGE!")

Once the sun had risen a good height, the trio continued on their way through the desert. Only after a few hours of walking did they see the blurry outline of a city.

"It's Morroc!" Crickette shouted with glee.

(A/N: Glee…? O.o That sounds a bit dorky)

"Yep," Aromia replied.

There was an awkward pause among the group.

"Why _are _we going to Morroc anyway?" Santo Devolo asked, intervening the moment of silence.

Another pause.

"He's talking to YOU, Crick," Aromia stated while smacking her friend upside the head.

"Oh yeah," the novice began to stare up at the cloudless sky, "I never told you why, now did I?"

"No, no you didn't."

A third pause.

"Hmmmmm, I…..don't…..know," she simply replied.

The thief and assassin both experienced another moment of silence before shrieking at their forgetful friend:

"WHATTTTTTT?"

--------- (More setting changes, YAY!)

As Crickette, Aromia, and Santo entered Morroc, they verbally listed everything that the city had, hoping one was the reason they had come in the first place.

"Shopping?"

"No."

"Llama racing?"

"Llama race-"

"Never mind," Aromia said quickly to Santo.

"Well, we should just enjoy the sights while we're here," Crickette intervened.

"Oh my gosh!" said the hyperactive female thief, "look over there!" she pointed to a priestess casting warp, "there's this game that I like to play where you go into a random warp spell!"

"Why would you-" Santo began to say; unfortunately, Aromia had pulled both him and Crickette along with her into the warp hole.

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Once the trio had awoken, they could smell the scent of saltwater in the air. As they all sat up, they saw the sea-side city, Alberta, surrounding them.

"Oops," said Aromia sheepishly.

"Hey guys," Crickette started, "I just remembered why I had to go to Morroc. I needed to see the priestess that was north of the city!" She grinned broadly for her accomplishment.

Once again, ANOTHER pause.

"CRICKETTE!" the novice's friends shrieked.

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It's longer, it's better, it's finally done! Well, not the story, just the first GOOD chapter. Thanks to all those who reviewed! If anyone wants to give suggestions on what the...evil... in the plot should be, just let me know! Thanks!


	9. Angsty Salesmen

Ok, yes, I DO deserve flames and such for not updating this for 5 months...but I don't think anyone really cared too much about it. I'm glad though, that I have over 300 hits, despite the three lonely reviews. That's something to blame, really. I haven't made a chapter in so long cause NOBODY would give actual suggestions! Merph, I'm running on guilt and anger...ok, I'm good! But seriously, I NEED suggestions or else this story is just going to be discontinued.

Whatever, just PLEASE review! It lets me know someone cares!

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Although being out of the hot desert sun was a plus, Aromia had for once felt an unmistakable grief upon her. It was HER fault they were so close to their goal and then so far away, stuck in Alberta. If she caused this much trouble, she might as well leave for her friends' sakes.

As the three of them passed the last of the city's white buildings and had started to walk on fresh, wild grass, the depressed thief lagged behind.

Crickette was the first to notice since she herself usually took position in the rear of the group, not the middle. "Aromia, what's wrong?" she asked. Santo also turned once he'd heard Crickette's question.

Only a few moments of silence passed before Aromia shook her short brown hair. "I'm too much of a nuisance…" her voice trailed off into the forest.

Santo Devolo, however, had intercepted the words in the wrong way. "NO! DON'T DO SUICIDE!" he shouted, flailing his arms in every direction. The two girls simultaneously both cocked their heads in sheer confusion.

Crickette slowly raised one hand before swiftly slapping Santo Devolo. "Because I'm not an Acolyte yet, I can still say this: GOD DAMNIT SANTO! AROMIA ISN'T GOING TO KILL HERSELF—wait, you're not going to kill yourself, are you?" she turned towards her stunned and confused friend.

Aromia this time slowly turned her head side to side as not to get a headache, "No…it's my fault for getting us here; I've done more bad than good…I'm leaving."

Santo and Crickette gave each other nervous glances before looking back at Aromia.

Santo began, "Everybody makes mistakes, Aromia; you can't punish yourself for just one. Besides, we could just go to Payon, find a priest, ask really nicely, and get sent back to Morroc." Meanwhile, Crickette had been trying to get Santo's attention to say that Aromia had already left into the woods.

"DAMN!" exclaimed Santo.

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An occasional chirp from the trees sounded as Aromia walked through the otherwise silent forest. She had left while Santo had been talking, but she hadn't been listening. She had to stay focused when using the hiding skill; it was easier to do if she was off the path and stuck to the close-together trees of the forest to use as a wall.

While Aromia continued, voices echoed off of the branches from the path. After some futile thinking (A/N: Aromia isn't too bright in the head, or at least not yet) she decided to creep back towards the trail and eavesdrop on the unknown conversation.

"You think it will work?" one man's voice asked.

"It's just gotta, Jeff," the taller man replied.

The two were dressed up like the blues brothers and were holding suitcases.

"OMG, I just know they're going to try and kill Santo and Crick," Aromia said to herself. She kept her distance as she followed them further down the trail.

After having to put up with their incompetence, for they had gotten lost for a while, Aromia could see her two ex-companions further up on the path.

'Finally,' she thought as she turned off her iPod. Aromia then hid behind a bush and waited to pounce; though she wanted to be sure the four of them could see her shining moment. She'd finally be doing something right for once.

"BANZAII!" she shouted as everyone turned in sheer shock. The two mysterious men went down in a flash from being tackled. One of the suitcases popped open to reveal…

"Uhhhhh….Aromia?" Crickette asked, "These are just broken watches. They were just trying to sell us some stuff….I think."

"DAMN!" was the thief's only reply. The clueless acolyte-to-be looked between her companions.

"You two act…….the same," all she received were a couple of glares.

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Oh yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaah, did I forget to mention that this chapter would suck (again) because THIS time I tried to add angst. As you can see (or read), I had to put in comic reliefs...LOTS of comic reliefs...flames aloud, just remember that they burn. -.-


	10. The Magicians' Quarrel part 1

That's it. That's SO it. I've had it. If I'm to ever live with myself about this failure of a story, I'm going to have to FINISH it. So no matter how bad it may suck, no matter how little I get reviews-wise, it will have an ending! Yeah…here goes nothing and everything.

(The story keeps getting harder to write because I have to check the previous chapters to make sure I'm not including things that have only happened in the comic-version of this.)

Oh yes, I'd also like to thank Tzusuki and DarkRavenna because:

1) Tzusuki has always supported me since she first read this story

2) DarkRavenna's review was probably the best I've ever gotten on any site and probably what inspired me to finish this fanfic.

THANK YOU BOTH SO MUCH!

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Crickette was the first to notice the gate which led to Payon. The deep wooden carvings arched their ways up the sides of two poles that connected at the tip.

"So, do we have enough money to pay a kafra to get us to Morroc?" questioned the novice, who had earlier appointed herself as the NEW leader due to the other's incompetence.

"Uhmm, just barely," Santo concluded, finishing counting up the couple hundred zeny in his hand. He began to ponder why they didn't think of this in Alberta let alone during the beginning of their adventure of mishap.

"Good, then let's go-Aromia?" Crickette stopped as she noticed their third companion was still in her sitting position on the ground with her eyes closed.

And so Santo decided to kneel down to her level and poke her promptly in the shoulder.

She swayed just barely from the force of his finger, and then began to sway back towards it.

Swaying...

Swaying some more...

Until at last her head had fallen against Santo's knee.

"I think Romi's asleep…," he whispered to Crickette, pulling down his sakkat to hide the pink that tinted his face.

"Romi…?"

"Well, yeah. Aromia is four syllables, she could do with a nickname," Santo replied. Both of them turned to face their sleeping friend and then to one another.

(A/N: Yeah, it's true, Santo and Crickette are only two syllables, so I thought Aromia's should be, too.)

"Fine," huffed Crickette, finally giving up "we'll stop at an inn while we're here."

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Eventually, the three of them had fallen asleep at the local inn. Yet after midnight, tremulous vibrations could be felt throughout the town. Many fragile shelved items used for decorations within the building fell to the floor with harsh crashes; thus the residents were woken up.

"Aromia? Crickette? Where are you?"

"OW! Damnit Santo! That was my FOOT!" Aromia hissed through the darkness of the hallway.

"Not MY fault the earthquakes somehow cut the power!"

"Both of you shut up!"

"Yes Crickette."

"Yes, oh mighty fierce servant of Bapho-OW! My spleeeeeen," moaned Santo, clutching his side as Crickette holstered her mace.

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Outside, the usually deep crystalline Payon sky now appeared to be a forever sunset, boulders of burning flame soared through the air to hit the earth with tremendous force.

Sages and wizards alike were being summoned from all across the lands to aid the forest city in their unexpected attack, casting Water Ball and Deluge. Those such as alchemists and priests supported the spell casters with potions and blessings.

As Crickette, Aromia, and Santo made their way onto the scene, they were shocked to find most of the nearby buildings ablaze and partially ruined from the large smoldering rocks that had crashed into them. Crickette immediately went off to join the group of priests leaving Santo and Aromia to do nothing.

"So…what do you want to do now?" Santo cast a brief glance at his remaining partner, receiving a twitching eye from her.

"Half the town's burning and you're BORED!?" Aromia almost shrieked.

"Well, how could we help? By _cutting_ the fire?"

"You can't even CUT the fire because you don't have anymore shurikans left!"

In the meantime, to say the least, none of the first-class job-and-above men would give Crickette a chance to prove she could perform acolyte skills required to help out. Besides, the fire had been maintained by then, so she calmly took out an apple from her bag and leaned against the closest base of a tree to witness the argument at hand.

"WELL...YOU…..JERK!"

"You're calling a GIRL a JERK!?"

"So what if I am!?"

"PANSY!"

"SISSY GIRLY-GIRL!"

"NINNY!"

"Ninny?"

"Yes, NINNY! Have at you, ruffian!" and with that aside, Aromia tackled the snow-haired assassin.

Crickette's mouth gaped openly trying to acknowledge that her two teenage friends, one being a year older than the other, were rolling around on the ground desperately flailing their fists in every possible direction and angle.

While the twosome's fight began to tumble away from view, a young mage donned with a large-brimmed wizard's hat made his way over to the same tree Crickette was sitting at. The long blue braid trailing down his back was dusted with ashes from the town's previous incident.

"Oi, they do that often?"

"No, but I suppose it was to be expected of sooner or later."

"Ahh, I see," the mage nodded in the direction of the squabbling before returning his hidden gaze at the strawberry blonde, "By the way, I saw you try to help with halting the fire. Yet what could someone like _you_, a novice, possibly do?"

The statement hit Crickette as an insult due to the belittling she had received earlier during the fire, causing her to stand and turn her head sharply in the stranger's direction. Raising one hand, she was able to gather enough spiritual energy into her outstretched palm and face it towards the magician.

"HOLY LIGHT" The blast knocked him off his feet and several yards back.

The blast seemed to have stopped whatever damage Santo and Aromia were doing to each other, mainly pulling at another's hair, as they themselves separated and sat crossed-legged on the ground to watch the dispute between the two magic users.

Currently, they were taking turns at casting spells. Crickette was dodging rather than attacking, with the mage's casts being launched repeatedly after one another. The only thing the poor novice could do was try and cast buffs unto her.

Yet soon, that process had cut short when she had found herself surrounded by three blazing partitions of fire. And to make things worse, underneath her, in the center of the burning triangle, appeared a summoning circle.

"So you're a novice who can cast acolyte spells," the mage stated as he waited for his thunderstorm spell to finish. The spell had been perfected enough that it would buffet the girl into one of his firewalls and end this pitiful battle and the novice's life once and for all.

(A/N: Ok, I know jupital thunder is the one that pushes you back, but he's a mage, and that's a wizard's spell.)

However, he wasn't expecting an assassin and a thief to interfere.

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Oh jeez, only 1,000 words? Crud, I was hoping for more.

Well, duh, this isn't the **LAST** chapter or anything, but I **AM** gonna begin working on this again, to at least finish it before starting anything new. And I'm probably going to get **TONS** of flames from people who just want me to delete the entire story all together…..but I can't. This story's like, the first one I ever posted on the internet; no matter how bad my writing was over a year ago, it means a lot to me. That's why I'm determined to get it done, regardless of how long it'll take! **PLEASE R&R, PLEASE!**


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